Today, Nov 11, this ad was posted on a "free ad" site (I'm sure you can guess which site):
looking for a sports photographer to help cover swim team and posed photos for this Tuesday 11-13-07 evening from 5:30-7:30
must have knowledge in posed and team photos.
$16.00 per hour
So, you can earn $32 shooting a swim team's T&I. After you drive there. Unpaid. What a deal.
The kicker is: This ad was posted by a photographer in my area; apparently he's looking for someone to do this shoot he was booked for.
He went on:
Also am looking to hire a photographer for some action photos for wrestling,hockey and basketball coming this fall and winter. Please send me an e-mail along with some work you have done.
I can only assume that this additional work is at the same, top-notch rate.
I feel sorry for the parents who signed up to have T&I taken of their children, if they get a $16/hour photographer taking them.
$16/hour is not a bad rate for hiring a student to shoot under-instruction, or a booth worker. However, as you correctly surmised, offering this rate for a solo gig is ludicrous.
MichaelKirk wrote:
....so what's the "going rate"? For an experienced photographer
Just curious in case I ever get asked
Michael
I recall a lengthly sports forum thread last year where $10 per hour was discussed as being a common rate for a sports shooter, and that's with your own equipment.
Mike
PS edit to add that I think that's an outrageously low rate.
But T&I are basically sales that are "in the bag." Most T&I shoots are jobs where you've already been paid (or are being paid--collecting right there). I can see actions shooting on spec being low-ish ($20-30/hr) since you don't know if it's going to sell. But T&I, that's gravy.
$16 would also be a ok rate where I'm from... but not for a mere two hours of work. Several yearbook studios in the area start people out a little bit lower then that, but you're also talking about full time work. Plenty of people get their feet wet doing this kind of work and either move on to their own work, or figure out that they're not cut out for it. I started out this way until I took advantage of some opportunities and broke out on my own, I still do a tiny bit of work for a studio in the summer. Of course around here it's normal for travel time and mileage to be paid on top of shooting time (Not always at a good rate, but at least you're not traveling for free). Lets face it, this isn't work for someone who's already going out and drumming up their own business. This guy double booked himself, and want to get out of it cheap. He'll find someone to shoot for him and might even keep the contract when they screw it up.
If 100 kids come through on T&I at $20 each, minus about $5 each for printing, that's $1,500. And he wants to pay $32 for a second photographer? Sure sounds like a bargain... for him!
Yea, T&I seems to be one of the better paying gigs around for locals. The $8-$20/hour I was quoting was for providing content to newspapers, ie a dispatched assisgnment and not shooting spec.
I know of one guy that did $13,000 grand shooting 4 teams T&I in one day. That $32 is beyond insane.
For those of you saying $16 an hour is acceptable, are you thinking as an employee who gets additional benefits or as a self-employed small businessman?
As a self-employed businessman, $16 an hour means the kids eat tomato soup seven days a week.
I'm not sure what the poster is complaining about. For someone, it will be a nice opportunity to do some work while the photographer is paid for being the Owner/Leader/Manager. What's wrong with that rate? I really don't get the problem here.
Consider this.....does a million dollar company pay it's entry-level employees a million dollars, or even a rate close to that of a manager?
RDKirk wrote:
For those of you saying $16 an hour is acceptable, are you thinking as an employee who gets additional benefits or as a self-employed small businessman?
As a self-employed businessman, $16 an hour means the kids eat tomato soup seven days a week.
When I was working full time for a studio doing exactly this type of work, $16 an hour was an acceptable rate. I was working a solid 40 hours a week, getting paid for travel time and an additional rate for millage, got paid vacation and 401k matching, and was supplied a good portion of the equipment I needed to do the job. I didn't get rich, but I was paying my bills.
As a self employed photographer I wouldn't even answer an E-Mail offering me $32 to do that job.
griffitg, $16 may be an acceptable rate if the work was more than 2 hours and included travel compensation. But for someone to drive to the location (let's assume 20 miles one way.... this is the Chicago area, and you can rarely go directly there), at $0.45 per mile (IRS mileage), that's $18 in travel costs. $32 - $18 = $14 for 2 hours of work.
Now, if this was an 8-hour gig, or was a series of gigs, things get better, but not much.
Holy cow, I'm in the wrong market.